Trouble installing a different OS on ancient computer.

Hello all you computer guru's. I have a very old laptop that I need some help with. It is a pentium 120mhz 48meg, 10x cd-rom, and a 1.3 gig hard drive. The problem is it has windows 98 on it, which is about 1gig, so I basically am out of space (100-200mb left). I want to install dos 6.22 and windows 3.11 on it but it wont work. I have the dos install that I got from microsoft's (not capitalized on purpose) website, but when I run the setup file, it says wrong version of dos. How am I to go about formatting this thing and installing dos and win 3.11, from a cd? When I boot up the cd with the dos files it doesn't do anything, just goes right to windows 98, I checked bios and my cd drive is set 1st in the boot sequence so I dunno. Any ideas? Thanks!


Deebo

reply to post by Deebo


Where did you get a time machine?

I want one.

Originally posted by galactictuan
reply to post by Deebo

 

Where did you get a time machine?

I want one.

Lol bout a year ago I was helping my old neighbor move, his apt. looked like that show horders, but with ALL computer/electronics, so he gave me the laptop and a ton of other stuff he didn't want or have room for in his new retirement home.

Deebo

These steps should work and failing that, consider a light-weight Linux distro, 'eh?

I agree with iMystery. My dad still has a Bigfoot that he has Linux on, and it runs like a dream. Though earlier versions of windows would work as welll

I freaking love me some vintage computing.

reply to post by iMystery


Thank goodness for you.

I was, clearly, not of much use.

I've never installed dos from a cd, always used the original diskettes.

But why would you want to use such an old piece of machinery, I recently bought a netbook, great performance and quite cheap.

reply to post by galactictuan


Well, upon review I may not have been any help either (considering the OP may not have the original diskettes) but hey, I am no M$ guru, by any means.



reply to post by Deebo


OP - if you cannot make it work and want to give Linux a shot, a distro like Wary Puppy (which is specifically for legacy hardware) might be smokin' fast on your machine, given size.

1.3 gig hard drive ?
I would ask around and see if someone has the Windows XP program.
Hook up to the internet insert the disc and let it run If that works ..fine if not junk it .

The reason you're getting the "wrong version" message is because the Win98 DOS is a later version. It's smart enough not to let you install an older version over a newer one.

But that's not the *main* problem. First of all you have to use fdisk to repartition (and make the partition "Active"). Also use fdisk /mbr to reload the master boot record from the controller to the hard drive.

And that's assuming that your DOS CD is "bootable." If it is, then you're in bidness. If not, come back here and we'll work out the details (I don't have them off the top of my head).

The problem you are having is you booted up with dos 7 (part of win98) and you are trying to run a dos 6.22 program. So it chokes. You need to boot with 6.22 to run the setup program.

To find out what version you are using any time you have the dos prompt, type “ver” and hit return. Even works on windows XP!

If your computer can boot to CD rom then download a CD iso image from……
www.allbootdisks.com...
And burn that to disk

Put that disk in the cd rom. Boot to 6.22 then put the full installation disk in the cd drive and install it. The cd drive will show up as A:

The thing I would do if I owned it would be to get a used 20 or 30 gig IDE drive and use that with your existing win98. Or just get a new 320 gig drive for around $50 and just use 30 gig of it for now on a fat32 partition. Solid state drives are also running around $50 for 8GB to 16GB drives.

If you are using a computer that can’t recognize over 2 or 8GB of hard drives space, you can use a bios overlay program to allow your computer to see the full capacity. If you need one, just ask, I can point you to a few that would do the job.

On the alternative operating system front, your system isn’t going to be able to run any modern top line distributions. The only one I would think of using with your computer is DSL “Damn Small Linux” And that would only be in an instance where I had high speed internet with an Ethernet connection. It is a pain in the A$$ to use dialup on linux!!!!!!!

For win 98 or ME I would run opera 9.X or 10.X for the internet browser. I have done it and it’s a perfectly useable browser for an older computer. Ignore their offers to upgrade because past 9.X for win 98 or 10.X for ME will not work.

Well, I withdraw my reply. Please listen to Mr Tranny; he seems to have the correct answers. I haven't done this for several years and would just be winging it.

Thank you, Mr Tranny. I defer to you....

ETA: I just realized that it's possible to read this as a sarcastic reply. I just want to emphasize that I am being sincere....

I believe the mayans would have sacrificed atleast 3 virgins to the gods to resurrect a computer in that state.

Originally posted by etombo
I believe the mayans would have sacrificed atleast 3 virgins to the gods to resurrect a computer in that state.

Jeebus. If I'd ever thought of trying that there wouldn't be a virgin left in the surrounding 6 states....

And if a person doesn’t want to fiddle with a overlay program and pay a higher price for an older style IDE drive……..

If your computer has PCI slots them buy a SATA/PCI drive controller for around $20 to $40 (Do a search on google shopping for SATA PCI), and buy a newer SATA drive that is a bit cheaper for the same capacity. Then you can plug a 2TB disk into that computer and it will recognize it! Using the entire disk may be another problem entirely!

If you have enough ram then you can use it for a freenas box or the like.
Yes, A 2TB HD is perfectly workable on a P120

Originally posted by Mr Tranny
The problem you are having is you booted up with dos 7 (part of win98) and you are trying to run a dos 6.22 program. So it chokes. You need to boot with 6.22 to run the setup program.

To find out what version you are using any time you have the dos prompt, type “ver” and hit return. Even works on windows XP!

If your computer can boot to CD rom then download a CD iso image from……
www.allbootdisks.com...
And burn that to disk

Put that disk in the cd rom. Boot to 6.22 then put the full installation disk in the cd drive and install it. The cd drive will show up as A:

The thing I would do if I owned it would be to get a used 20 or 30 gig IDE drive and use that with your existing win98. Or just get a new 320 gig drive for around $50 and just use 30 gig of it for now on a fat32 partition. Solid state drives are also running around $50 for 8GB to 16GB drives.

If you are using a computer that can’t recognize over 2 or 8GB of hard drives space, you can use a bios overlay program to allow your computer to see the full capacity. If you need one, just ask, I can point you to a few that would do the job.

On the alternative operating system front, your system isn’t going to be able to run any modern top line distributions. The only one I would think of using with your computer is DSL “Damn Small Linux” And that would only be in an instance where I had high speed internet with an Ethernet connection. It is a pain in the A$$ to use dialup on linux!!!!!!!

For win 98 or ME I would run opera 9.X or 10.X for the internet browser. I have done it and it’s a perfectly useable browser for an older computer. Ignore their offers to upgrade because past 9.X for win 98 or 10.X for ME will not work.

I just burned the 6.22 boot to a cd, started comp and it just goes right to windows 98. Wont boot from cd even though bios says too..

Also tried fdisk to delete primary partition.. says "Could not change partitions because the disk could not be locked"
Actually bios says the boot sequence is FDD-HDD, I do not have a floppy drive, just my cd drive which is D..I guess I cannot boot from the cd drive?

This makes me want to run a raffle, to see who can make the closest guess on how many pieces this thing will burst into from a 10 story drop.

Deebo

Try going through all the selections. If there is no CD rom in any of the selections then you have to get a boot floppy……

www.bootdisk.com...

Trying to use windows 98 fdisk to delete the operating system partition that you are currently booted from will usually get you no where. They do that to prevent people from accidentally wiping their own computer clean.

Originally posted by Mr Tranny
Try going through all the selections. If there is no CD rom in any of the selections then you have to get a boot floppy……

www.bootdisk.com...

Trying to use windows 98 fdisk to delete the operating system partition that you are currently booted from will usually get you no where. They do that to prevent people from accidentally wiping their own computer clean.

Now that you mention it, the cd drive in this thing just pops out with a switch and can be swapped for a 3.5. Maybe ill get one if its dirt cheap..

Thanks for replies, all of ya

Deebo

Originally posted by Grey Magic
I've never installed dos from a cd, always used the original diskettes.

But why would you want to use such an old piece of machinery, I recently bought a netbook, great performance and quite cheap.

I am trying to start a small online business, and this comp would be great for storing sensitive things, as a backup. Lots of word/txt documents, etc. And since I wont have net on it, no worries for viruses. Plus the speed of this comp brings back memories. My 1st was a 386sx 25, 2mb, 25 meg hd lol.


Deebo